Physical Activity in the News 9.13-9.20

Innovative efforts by America’s medical device and biotech companies to help solve our nation’s crippling obesity problem (“Despite the hype about healthy eating, we’re losing the war on obesity,” (The Hill’s Congress Blog, Sept. 3) are to be lauded. Let’s hope that their determination and discoveries help the many Americans who are suffering the health consequences of what may now be our country’s most entrenched chronic disease. At the same time, let’s not forget that without an intensive and sustained effort to prevent obesity — by changing our culture of unhealthy lifestyles to one that embraces regular physical activity and healthy, wholesome eating habits — we will forever be seeking a cure.

Kaiser Permanente has launched a new $2.5 million fund that will provide dollars to school districts to keep kids active. The fund is part of Kaiser's Thriving Schools campaign, which aims to make good health a part of everyday life in Colorado schools. Thriving Schools is supported by Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit funding, and seeks to increase moderate to vigorous physical activity in schools in order to impact student achievement and health and wellness.

Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation's leading network of dialysis facilities, today launched its second annual Champions in Motion program, which recognizes dialysis patients across the country who have distinguished themselves by their commitment to regular physical activity. The program is part of FMCNA's Healthy Lifestyle initiative, which aims to help people with kidney failure live better lives on dialysis by encouraging them to exercise and maintain healthy diets.

The medical community touts the importance of not carrying excess weight, but that has not always been the message delivered to older adults. Weight loss has been discouraged among older adults, partly because of health concerns over inadvertent reductions in muscle and bone mass, which is known to accompany overall weight loss. However, new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center shows that physical activity and weight loss conducted together for older, overweight and obese adults results in improved body composition, translating into lower cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) and improved mobility.

Childhood obesity has become a national public health challenge, with rates of childhood obesity doubling in the past 30 years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 approximately 1/3 of children were obese or overweight. A study released by the American Heart Association just this month found 5 percent of American teenagers were severely obese. With a national focus on childhood obesity this month, teaching children to manage their weight and eat consciously should play a significant role in empowering children to prevent obesity.

Children who are physically fit absorb and retain new information more effectively than children who are out of shape, a new study finds, raising timely questions about the wisdom of slashing physical education programs at schools. A representative study, presented in May at the American College of Sports Medicine, found that fourth- and fifth-grade students who ran around and otherwise exercised vigorously for at least 10 minutes before a math test scored higher than children who had sat quietly before the exam.

It’s the perennial conundrum of many personal weight-loss and diet goals writ large: Kids are eating better and engaging in more physical activity, but pound-for-pound, they aren’t quite achieving the desired results. A new study published in Pediatrics shows that American children are exercising more, eating more fruits and vegetables, consuming less soda and candy, and watching fewer hours of television. But despite all of these positive developments, the study shows body mass index increased between 2001 and 2005.

President Barack Obama may have proclaimed September National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, but a startup in New York City that has quickly risen to become the most-used educational fitness program in American schools says we must also place an emphasis on action and prevention.

Interdisciplinary research at the University of Copenhagen explains why moderate exercising is more motivating than hard training. The findings have just been published in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. The obesity epidemic has massive socio-economic consequences, and decades of health campaigns have not made significant headway. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen are therefore pursuing the development of new, interdisciplinary methods for preventing and treating this widespread problem.

A clinical review from geriatricians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests that mobility limitations are a litmus test for healthy aging and urges primary care physicians to take a more aggressive role in ascertaining the mobility of their older patients. "The review confirmed that increased physical activity and exercise are extremely important for healthy aging," said Brown. "We've also identified mobility-limiting risk factors and created an approach to help medical professionals screen for and treat those risk factors."

ING U.S. announced that it has awarded 59 schools from 26 states across the U.S. with up to $2,500 grants to help students combat childhood obesity by getting them more active through school-based running programs. Through its ING Run For Something Better(R) School Awards Program, retirement, investment and insurance leader ING U.S., in partnership with the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), is helping to introduce kindergarten through eighth-grade students across the country to the benefits of running and making healthy lifestyle choices.

Barriers and enablers for good nutrition and physical activity influence employee health behaviors, according to research published online Sept. 12 in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease. Krysten Blackford, of Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and colleagues conducted an online survey of 111 employees in 55 organizations to identify barriers and enablers for physical activity and nutrition and develop intervention strategies for health promotion in office settings.

Despite popular belief that unhealthy diets and sedentary behavior are big reasons for the increase of childhood obesity the past decade, a new review by three South Carolina universities said there is a startling lack of conclusive research to support those beliefs. A new review by the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Medicine, Clemson, the Medical University of South Carolina, and others found that long-term prospective studies have only been able to return “mixed evidence” in those factors. The review concluded that much more long-term research is needed to better understand the causes of childhood obesity.

Gov. Sam Brownback and top state health officials will host the 2nd annual Kansas Obesity Summit on Sept. 30 in Topeka. Topics include ways to make physical activity part of Kansans’ daily life. Speakers will also address an expanded role for employers, insurers and health care professionals in preventing obesity. Brownback held a weight-loss challenge for state and local government employees from January through May as part of his efforts to encourage Kansas residents to get healthier.

Working closely with academic and commercial partners, a University program aimed at fighting obesity in local middle schools has expanded into a statewide initiative aimed at fighting obesity, encouraging exercise and promoting healthier lifestyles. Building Healthy Communities — a new offshoot of the University of Michigan Health System’s ‘Project Healthy Schools’ initiative — is in the process of implementing programs in 28 middle and elementary schools across the state.

Oklahoma is the sixth-worst state for obesity rates, with nearly one in three residents qualifying as obese, according to new data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control. That's why Summer Sanders, Olympic Gold medalist swimmer and a long-time TV host, is teaming with the US Tennis Association to tell people about free tennis events going on around the country. Several of the free events are scheduled here in the Oklahoma City metro area. Studies have shown that an early, positive experience in sports is creates a lifelong commitment to an active lifestyle. Physical inactivity is now an epidemic.

This study shows that a surprisingly simple, cost-effective engagement intervention that quickly shifts an individual’s state of mind from stress to calm can markedly improve individual and organizational performance. This intervention is based on the landmark research conducted by renowned performance psychologist Jim Loehr. He found that tennis players can improve their performance when they learn to perform in intervals — that is, to disengage from stress (produced by the effort of playing a point) and return to a calm state of mind within 16 seconds before the next serve.

By: Jack L. Groppel, Ph. D and Joe Alexander M.M., M.A
The Wellness & Prevention, Inc., a health and performance solutions provider that offers an integrated portfolio of solutions covering the broad spectrum of population health, developed the Organization in MOTION™ Program to study the impact that small and frequent amounts of movement can have on individual energy levels, cognition, creativity, and problem-solving throughout the day. The objective of the initiative was to test the theory that increasing movement would increase self-reported energy, engagement, and focus levels in employees. To do this, Wellness & Prevention simultaneously administered the program to two distinct populations.

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